A number of New York’s GOP ringleaders turned out at the Plaza Hotel’s Oak Room Wednesday night to pay their respects to George Bush‘s political architect Karl Rove, whose new book, “Courage and Consequence,” hit shelves this week. Weekly Standard editor William Kristol, Republican fund-raiser Georgette Mosbacher, Bush diplomat Bruce Gelb and Gristedes CEO John Catsimatidis were among those mingling while Rove worked the room. When writer Gregory Speck asked Rove if he felt that being called “Bush’s brain” was “complimentary flattery or rather an insulting jeer,” Rove replied, “Definitely a jeer [since] George Bush is a very intelligent man who can think for himself.” Also in the house were Fox Business Network correspondent Charlie Gasparino and his former CNBC co-worker Michelle Caruso Cabrera and former Bear Stearns economist-turned-Senate candidate David Malpass.